Inside the sky-blue dimension, Kemonoka was a blur of motion, dashing around the room with incredible speed. Each time he passed Cornelia, he slashed at her, his movements too quick for the eye to follow.
"You damn wolf!" Cornelia snarled, stomping the ground in frustration. She turned to punch Kemonoka as he sped towards her, but he deftly leaped over her punch and kicked her in the face, sending her flying through several grounded cubes.
Cornelia growled, bursting out of the wreckage of the cubes. "Grrr... Jipami! Keep these goddamn cubes out of my way, goddammit!"
Meanwhile, Rukyoi was still in hot pursuit of Jipami, his thoughts racing. She has full control over this dimension, right? If that's true, why isn't she doing anything about me?
Suddenly, all of the dimension's citizens vanished, leaving only Jipami, Rukyoi, Kemonoka, and Cornelia.
Like that! What just happened? Rukyoi wondered, bewildered.
Cornelia's eyes widened in shock and anger. "What!? Where did all the people go!? JIPAMI! STOP MESSING UP THE MISSION!!!"
In that instant, Kemonoka appeared behind Cornelia and attempted to thrust his claws through her. Cornelia, however, managed to grab his wrist in the nick of time. With a swift kick to his chin, she sent him hurtling upwards before throwing him into the air by his wrist.
Cornelia leaped above the airborne Kemonoka, aiming the palms of her hands down at him.
"Dakamichi Oma—Pressure Magic: Explosive Burst!" she shouted.
From her palms erupted a massive beam of explosive energy, which slammed into Kemonoka and sent him crashing to the ground. He lay there, sprawled on his back, dazed.
"Hey dog! What's your name again!?" Cornelia taunted as she landed in front of him.
Rukyoi, observing the battle, thought to himself, That form Kemonoka is in... it doubles his power, but it drains him of all the moonlight he absorbs. Once he runs out, he'll revert to his human form. That won't be good for him since he's barely keeping up right now!
Kemonoka struggled to his feet and vanished in a blur of motion.
"Is speed the only thing you've got over me?!" Cornelia shouted, her frustration mounting.
Kemonoka perched himself on top of a cube, poised on all fours. As he came to a stop, a powerful gust of wind swept from behind him. His cheeks puffed up before he unleashed a loud, powerful, and wide beam of sound from his mouth aimed directly at Cornelia. The sonic beam obliterated the cubes in its path, reducing them to particles.
When the beam struck Cornelia, she stood her ground within its force. Blood began to drip rapidly from her eyes, nose, and mouth, her eyes going bloodshot from the intense pressure.
Cornelia, taken aback by the devastating effects of the sonic beam, growled in rage and stomped her foot.
"What...!? I'll skin you!!!" she roared, her fury palpable.
She lunged towards Kemonoka, throwing a powerful punch. Kemonoka deftly leaped over her attack, causing Cornelia to smash the cube he had been standing on into rubble. Kemonoka swiftly descended from the air, his claws outstretched, and stabbed her in the shoulder.
"You'll—" Cornelia began, but was cut off as she quickly spun and kicked Kemonoka off her. A bead of sweat trickled down her cheek as she registered the near-miss. That thing really almost ripped my arm off, she thought, her anger mingling with a hint of fear.
Kemonoka wasted no time and slashed her across the chest.
"AH—!" Cornelia screamed in pain, but retaliated instantly, landing a punch squarely on Kemonoka's face, sending him reeling backward.
Cornelia snarled, "Wareme—Specific Magic: Thunder Pull and Strike!"
Her hand crackled with a static purple electricity. In an instant, Kemonoka was ensnared in a lasso of purple lightning, which yanked him toward Cornelia. She delivered a powerful punch to his stomach with her electrified hand, sending him sprawling across the ground.
"You're actually pathetic! I was wrong about you being worth my time," Cornelia taunted.
Kemonoka slowly got up, crouching. "Drip Claw," he growled, his deep voice echoing through the dimension. His claws began to glow white.
Cornelia raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "A new move? Maybe I chose too early."
"Primordial Duality!" Kemonoka's voice reverberated through the dimension as he launched two large white slash projectiles toward Cornelia.
Cornelia responded quickly, "Kachiro Jibun—Breaker Magic: Breaker Beam!!!" She fired a massive beam of silver magic at Kemonoka's projectiles. However, as her beam collided with the slashes, it was cut in half, leaving the two projectiles unimpeded and still heading toward her.
"There's just no way—" Cornelia exclaimed, leaping to the side to avoid the slashes. But Kemonoka was already there, lunging at her. He stabbed her arm with one of his claws, the sharp pain causing her to gasp.
Cornelia gritted her teeth, a mixture of shock and anger on her face.
Kemonoka's voice echoed through the dimension, "Drip Claw: Primordial Duel Saw!"
His claws glowed white as he swiped at Cornelia repeatedly. Cornelia narrowly dodged the barrage of attacks, counterattacking with a punch to Kemonoka's stomach.
Meanwhile, Rukyoi continued chasing Jipami. Blood trailed behind him, and he was sweating heavily from fatigue.
"Why don't you fight back!" he yelled.
Suddenly, multiple large cubes came flying out of the sky towards Rukyoi.
"Not like that!" he exclaimed, running to outpace the cubes, which fell behind him.
"This pain will be forever, this exhaustion will be forever..." Rukyoi panted and groaned as his pace slowed. My feet hurt, my chest hurts, my throat hurts. This is why I don't fight.
Jipami stopped flying and landed on the ground, also sweating heavily.
She gets tired too, though. Now's my chance, Rukyoi thought.
Suddenly, the distance between Rukyoi and Jipami expanded from inches to hundreds of miles. Both Rukyoi and Jipami found themselves in a giant cave made of the same material as the cubes. In front of Rukyoi, numerous pillars blocked his way.
"Pillars? Did she make all of this to rest?" Rukyoi wondered aloud.
Meanwhile, Jipami was on the ground, fast asleep.
Rukyoi, threw a powerful punch at one of the pillars. The force of the blow shattered the pillar, but the impact bloodied his knuckles, sending shards of the pillar into his skin.
"If this is what it takes to make it out... I'll do it!" Rukyoi declared, his voice resolute despite the pain.
Elsewhere, Kemonoka was in a fierce battle with Cornelia. He dodged her punches and kicks with agility, but suddenly, he untransformed into his human state. His celadon eyes gleamed, and his long, messy black hair fell over his face.
Cornelia sneered at him, "I guess your time ran out! I won't even use spells against you. I'll pummel you to death. Your blood will be my new skin tone."
Cornelia launched into a rapid assault of kicks and punches, locking Kemonoka in a relentless combo of hits. Each blow bruised him and caused him to bleed, pain etched across his features.
Meanwhile, outside the dimension, Setchi and Oto wandered through the wasteland of rubble and destroyed buildings that once made up Grottalanda.
"Where are they? I can't even sense them," Setchi said, frustration clear in his voice.
"Something isn't right... Did they die in the explosions or something?" Oto replied, scanning the desolate surroundings.
"No, because I noticed that their mana signature vanished soon before that," Setchi countered.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Oto asked, incredulous.
"I thought they were doing cool mana stuff! Like hiding their mana signature or something..." Setchi admitted sheepishly.
"Maybe they still are," Oto suggested.
"I hope... Well, wherever they are, I trust them. I believe that they can come out of whatever they're doing, victorious!" Setchi said, determination in his eyes.
"You said the same thing about Cenione," Oto reminded him.
"Don't be such a deadbeat downer. If I had the power to, I would have punched a hole right through that inheritor's rib cage, but that would make me the bad guy. If anything happens to Kemonoka and Rukyoi, I will make it my personal mission to hunt that person down and give them a one-way trip to Satan," Setchi vowed, his tone deadly serious.
Oto's wounds were healing on their own, and Setchi noticed.
"Your wounds are healing well," Setchi observed.
"Unless that bug cut my arm off, my wounds would be able to heal within a few minutes after receiving them. I'm assuming your mana is back by now," Oto said, flexing his arm to test its strength.
"Yeah, I was like... THIS CLOSE TO BEING DRIED UP ON MANA WHILE FIGHTING THAT GUY!!!" Setchi exclaimed, holding his fingers close together to show just how close he was to losing his mana.
Oto took a seat on a pile of rubble, looking around the desolate landscape.
"We should probably sit down. Knowing Kemonoka, they would most likely come back to find us," Oto said, his voice calm yet tinged with concern.
Setchi nodded and sat down next to him. "Yeah, there's no way they get captured or something... But, we may get captured," he added, his tone suddenly serious.
Oto turned to him, puzzled. "Why'd you say that?"
"The government would definitely take us in for completely destroying one of their big money makers and ways of transportation," Setchi explained, a hint of worry in his eyes.
"Yeah, you might be right. Though we did take care of a bigger threat, we did commit a crime," Oto acknowledged, then hesitated before continuing. "If I may ask though, you seem very, very wary of the government... Why is that?"
Setchi's expression darkened slightly. "Let's just say I've had my fair share of run-ins with them. They're not as benevolent as they like to appear. Trust me, if they get their hands on us, it won't be pretty."